Mannapuram gold loot: Accused’s mother held, 2.25 kg gold recovered

The city police on Tuesday, arrested Paramjeet Kaur, mother of Sukhwinder Singh, one of the accused arrested in the 10-kg gold loot at Manappuram Finance Company at Rama Mandi on August 28 and recovered 2.25kg gold ornaments from her possession.

The woman and seized gold that was looted from Mannapuram Finance firm in police custody in Jalandhar.(Pardeep Pandit/HT)

The city police on Tuesday, arrested Paramjeet Kaur, mother of Sukhwinder Singh, one of the accused arrested in the 10-kg gold loot at Manappuram Finance Company at Rama Mandi on August 28 and recovered 2.25kg gold ornaments from her possession.

She was rounded up by the police since Monday. As per police, Kaur is involved in the conspiracy of the crime and had hidden the ornaments in sewage pipe and pickle jars at her rented accommodation in Sainik Vihar.

The police said Kaur had also conducted the recce of the branch at Rama Mandi before the crime.

As reported on Monday, Paramjeet is also an eyewitness in a similar loot of 14-kg gold from Ludhiana’s Shimlapuri branch of Manappuram Finance at Gill Road on July 30, 2015, and now the police are verifying her involvement in the Ludhiana robbery as well.

Meanwhile, Paramjeet’s second son Varinder Singh Billa, prime accused in the Jalandhar robbery and a co-accused in the Ludhiana robbery, is still absconding.

Police have booked Paramjeet under Sections 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) into the case.

It is speculated that the gang of eight people which conducted this heist is also involved in the Ludhiana, Noida and Faridabad gold robberies.

After Ludhiana’s loot, Paramjeet along with her husband Surjeet and son Sukhwinder moved to Jalandhar and took a rented accommodation at Sainik Vihar near Dakoha.

Meanwhile, Kaur’s husband Surjeet and elder son Sukhwinder are in the custody of Rama Mandi police till September 12. The police had also seized a .32 bore revolver, three live cartridges, two Honda Activa scooters and a bike from them. The police had also recovered 820-gm gold ornaments from them.

A CCTV footage led the cops to the Sainik Vihar locality where they had been living in a house on rent belonging to a retired deputy superintendent of police (DSP).